Thursday, May 25, 2017

Today's Kerrville Daily Times front page article is titled "Former council trio speak out about Gary Stork case." It quotes Stephen Fine, Gene Allen and Glenn Andrew basically claiming that Mayor Bonnie White has unfairly maligned the integrity of the police investigation of Gary Stork for fondling a 13 year old girl at the July 4th celebration in 2016. They all say they got along with Gary just grand, and never feared him. I guess not - they partied with him at the same Fourth on the River:

Saturday, May 13, 2017

Cortese appeared in the U.S.District Court in Tampa yesterday for the hearing to determine how much money he and his co-defendants stole in their various internet fraud scams. Cortese even testified, which should have been very interesting. The judge ordered the parties to submit proposed findings within two weeks.

The judge also expressed concern about Cortese's health, noting that he had lost about 50 pounds and was trembling. He granted a defense motion to have Cortese medically examined.

Cortese was another regular in the Hill Country courthouses. He was suspended several times by the State Bar but always managed to come back. We all knew he was a crook, but nothing on this scale. After a six week trial in the federal court, he was found guilty of mail and wire fraud and money laundering, and the Government claims he stole about $8 Million.

Kevin D. Fine got busted in January 2016 in a sting where he solicited sexual favors and drugs in exchange for his services as a criminal defense lawyer. He thought he was texting a client who was really police. He stayed out on bond for over a year, then, incredibly, he fell for the same ruse again, this time in Kerrville, on May 2.

Fine, 50, was briefly a criminal district judge in Harris County, Texas. When that gig didn't work out he moved to Boerne, and was a regular in the Kerr County courthouse.

He worked out a deal where he pled guilty in Boerne and got five years' probation by pleading guilty to attempted possession of a controlled substance, a 3rd degree felony. He surrendered his law license.

Wednesday, May 3, 2017

High school English departments used to require students to read Sherwood Anderson's classic, Winesburg, Ohio, which he subtitled "Book of the Grotesques." It consisted of a collection of short stories where he depicted "the strange, secret lives of the inhabitants of a small town." The very first story is about a man who may or may not have been a pervert, like Kerrville's own Gary Stork. A writer friend of mine, Charles Bowden, advised me that if I wanted to follow through on my plans for a book about Kerrville I could model it somewhat after Anderson's book, where, in Chuck's words, "the grotesques would emerge from the shadows."

Which brings me to the latest in some of the good ol' boys pretending to feel "threatened" or "bullied" by a letter the mayor's husband wrote to interim city manager Don Davis. Our local paper published a letter to the editor by Gene Allen, an undertaker and former councilman who quit before his term expired (I'm sure there's a story there), titled "Stop the untruths; vote to save the city." He is very disturbed at what he calls the bullying in Kerrville, and gets carried away, mixing metaphors andgenerally making an ass of himself: he claims there has been a "traveling medicine show" and "the Bible talks of the devil and his tactics," and warns "Folks, it's time to wake up and smell the bacon," "drain the swamp," and "don't be fooled by wolves dressed as sheep!"

Keen is a good man, and I'm sorry to include his picture with this crew - I'm sure he poses for pictures with hundreds of fans a year.

Where was Allen when Gary Stork, looking like Charles Manson, who he knew was being investigated for child molesting, was sitting next to Mayor Bonnie White, badgering her. I received an anonymous letter from someone who told me the police department had intel that Stork was coming unhinged and might go postal in a council meeting, yet he was left loose on the streets. His wife Peggy's may have been prevented if the authorities had acted. For reasons known only to KPD, Stephen Fine, Glenn Andrew and Gene Allen they not only did nothing to protect the public, they appear to have egged him on against the mayor. Allen actually cursed her in an executive session, and when called on it (that he was not a man and was a coward) he had no reply, and not so long afterward resigned from council.

If someone besides Stork's wife had been murdered, the city would have been bankrupted by the liability.

Update on Ex-Judge Kevin Fine (no relation to Stephen Fine) Arrest

KDT has Kevin Fine's mug shot on the front page today under the headline "Former Harris County district judge faces Kerrville drug charge." They helpfully point out in the second paragraph that he's not related to councilman Stephen Fine. Why is KDT going out of its way to shield Fine?

Anyway, this is a pretty sordid case. The San Antonio Express reports that fine was caught in a sting trying to trade legal services for methamphetamine and sex. He was already on probation in Kendall County for almost exactly the same charge. You'd think he'd have learned the first time.

Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Updated Tues. 6:20 p.m.The members of
Kerrville city council continue to make fools of themselves pretending to
befrightened like a bunch of little
girls over the email Robert White sent to interim city manager Don D:avis. Stephen
Fine has now expressed how scared he is, saying :

“My first thought
was this is a threat,” Fine said. “It was like he was saying ‘Look what
happened to Gary when he tried this.’ If it wasn’t a threat, then what other
reason is there to send the e-mail?”

Also:

Place 3
Councilperson Mary Ellen Summerlin also felt threatened by the e-mail.

“It struck me as an
effort to intimidate,” Summerlin said. “I can’t think of any other reason to
send it, other than to try to persuade us not bring up the subject (of ethics
policy).

These people’s
comments about ethics reminds me of something Lyndon Johnson once said: they
know as much about ethics as old maids know about f------.

Attorney Kevin Fine Busted in Kerrville
This one gives me no pleasure to report. Attorney Kevin Fine was arrested yesterday by KPD for attempted possession of a controlled substance and booked into the county jail. I know him from the courthouse and he always seemed to be a decent guy, but apparently let addiction get the best of him. He already has a pending charge for the same thing in Kendall County.

Monday, May 1, 2017

Today's Kerrville Daily Times lead article is captioned "Councilman takes letter as threat." He ran and tattled to the friendly newspaper about a letter Robert White emailed to interim city manager Don Davis under the subject line "Mayor's ethics challenged by Stork in open meeting." Mr. White wrote, "I thought you might want to review this article as I see you and the other council members want to try the same thing Stork did last year."

KDT explains that "Kerrville City Councilman Gary Stork and his wife, Peggy Stork, were found dead of gunshot wounds in their home on Sept. 24, 2016. Stork's death was ruled a suicide, whereas the nature of his wife's death was not officially determined." The article neglects to mention the littledetail that Stork was about to be indicted for child molesting, and that Andrew and his fellow council members knew it. This includes Andrew, Stephen Fine, and Gene Allen. They had a good time at the July 4th picnic before Stork committed his crime. Here's a picture of them together, left to right: Stork, Fine, Keen, Andrew and Allen.

(I like Robert Earl Keen; I'm sure he posts for fan pics thousands of times a year). Anyway,
Andrew and Fine were also behind the decision to give all the city employees the morning off to attend the big "celebration of life" for Stork and his wife, whom he probably murdered. You'd have thought it was the JFK assassination all over again.

Anyway, the KDT article never does explain how referring to Stork, who the JP says shot himself, is a threat. Thankfully Andrew did not file for another term, so George Baroody is running unopposed.

So the question is - is Andrew really afraid that he has been threatened with the same thing that happened to Stork? Is there something we don't know about what really happened to Stork? The authorities have told us that it's an open and shut case of suicide. Is there a killer on the loose?

About Me

I was born and raised in the South, and lived over 15 years in Louisiana, including Gretna (across the river from NOLA), Hammond, Baton Rouge and for a short time in New Iberia. My dad worked in the oil industry, including the offshore business.
I graduated from the University of Texas School of Law in 1980 and have been a trial lawyer for 34 years. I'm board certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in practice in Personal injury Trial Law, Civil Trial Law, and Criminal Law. I am the only board certified criminal defense lawyer in Kerrvile. I serve clients throughout the Texas Hill Country. Visit my new law firm website www.richellison.com